Apple iTunes

Apple's iTunes enjoys enormous popularity, helped in no small part by being shipped with the biggest selling MP3 player of all time, the iPod, and offered free of charge online. Since its launch in 2001, the software has developed from a simple media player and syncing tool for the iPod to include a music download store and video support, although music is still its core function.

The main benefit of iTunes is the seamless integration with the iPod, iTunes music store and Mac OS X, but owners of other media players can also use it to manage music on their players - although, strangely, the Windows version will only work with iPods. MP3, MPEG-4, Ogg and Apple Lossless file formats are all supported, and the software can subscribe to podcasts, burn CDs and DVDs and run under either Mac OS or Windows.

Another interesting feature is smart playlists, which can create dynamic compilations from a media library based on the number of times a file is listened to, its genre, year of release or many other attributes. As with many Apple products, it works wonderfully in the way that it was intended, but is rather limiting if you try to do anything not sanctioned by the company.

Download iTunes here.

Reviews:
Apple iTunes
RealPlayer Basic
Media Player Classic
Foobar2000
VLC Media Player

Author: Matthew Sparkes